“It’s been a really hard week for me,” Heidi, 32, said on the Monday, April 8, episode of her “Make Speidi Famous Again” podcast with Spencer, 35. “I had a lot of on-Hills drama with a family member and that was very challenging and heartbreaking. I felt like there were some very below-the-belt, nasty comments that weren’t even true.”

The “Blackout” singer explained that she tried to reach out to her sister-in-law to clear the air before it got out of hand, but Stephanie, 32, wanted nothing to do with her messages. Heidi noted, “The next day I was just like, ‘Hey, yeah, let’s give it some time and I’d love to move forward.’ Then the person didn’t even message me and was, like, subtweeting me. So, it was like, ‘You obviously don’t want to make amends because I would’ve wrote back.’”

The Laguna Beach alum said “people mistake kindness for weakness,” which is why she believes she is targeted. Heidi added that she tried to avoid drama while filming The Hills: New Beginnings, but she knew she had to “stand up for” herself after Stephanie’s comments.

“You do need to have boundaries. Family, not family, friends — I don’t want my children to think it’s OK to let themselves be treated a certain way and have people say certain things about them,” she asserted. “There’s no way I’m not standing up for myself and my family.”

Stephanie opened up about her rift with the pair on Monday’s episode of her “Pratt Cast” podcast. “No one knows the real Heidi,” the Made in Reality author said through tears. “If it weren’t for Heidi, I would have an epic relationship with my brother. So would my parents. … [They] are the most toxic people I’ve ever met. They are Bonnie and Clyde till they die.”

The Made in Chelsea alum added that Spencer, who shares 18-month-old son Gunner with Heidi, is a “horrific … human.” Stephanie continued, “Heidi is always No. 1 to Spencer, so you know what? Spencer is dead to me.”